And So It Begins; Sarah Cornett-Ching Opens 2016 at Red Eye 100 This Weekend

The new year is off to a fast start and Sarah Cornett-Ching will be wasting little time. Proof of that is her 2016 racing schedule which begins this weekend with the Red Eye 100 at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, her first super late model event of the year.

The Race 101 team tested both their super late model and their NASCAR K_N Pro Series car earlier this week at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida. They will be racing the super late model this weekend.

An event spanning over 30 years, the Red Eye is a traditional contest for super late models that takes advantage of Florida’s warm climate and the state’s usual kick-off of most racing seasons. This year it will also serve as a competitive classroom for Cornett-Ching and her Race 101 team.

“The first race of the NASCAR K&N Series is here in February, and there’s no substitute for track time,” she said. “Doing these tests and running the Red Eye 100 will give me multiple days and a couple hundred laps of track time for our K&N opener in six weeks.”

Cornett-Ching will be piloting the same super late model chassis that she drove for the first time over Thanksgiving at Southern National Motorsports Park in North Carolina. In that race, her first in a super late model, she finished in the top ten.

Sarah Cornett-Ching made her first laps at New Smyrna Speedway in a K_N Pro Series car earlier this week. She will be racing a super late model in the Red Eye 100 at the track on Saturday.

“We brought both the K&N and the super late model so I could see the differences in how they drive at this track,” she explained. “The super was great over Thanksgiving, but it was my first time racing one. So, our biggest goal this weekend is simply to get me more seat time. Supers don’t drive anything like a K&N car, but this will give me the confidence and track time I need to come here in February and maximize our practice sessions.”

The Red Eye 100 is a single-day event on Saturday, January 2, although the No. 2 crew will be at-track on Friday afternoon making laps and fine-tuning during an optional test day.

Race 101 PR